Top 12 Chemical Lab Technician Skills to Put on Your Resume

Crafting a compelling resume is crucial for aspiring chemical lab technicians aiming to make a mark in the scientific community. Highlighting a blend of technical proficiency, analytical acumen, and safety consciousness can set you apart in a competitive job market, ensuring your application grabs the attention of potential employers.

Chemical Lab Technician Skills

1. Chromatography (HPLC)
2. Spectroscopy (FTIR)
3. Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)
4. Titration (Karl Fischer)
5. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
6. Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)
7. Microscopy (SEM)
8. Calorimetry (DSC)
9. Rheometry
10. NMR Spectroscopy
11. ELISA
12. Bioinformatics

1. Chromatography (HPLC)

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography separates, detects, and quantifies components in complex mixtures by pushing a sample through a packed column under pressure. Interactions between analytes, stationary phase, and mobile phase do the heavy lifting, turning tangled mixtures into clean peaks you can trust.

Why It's Important

HPLC underpins purity checks, identity confirmation, and quantitative assays across QA/QC, R&D, and regulatory testing. When the stakes are compliance or release, you want resolution, precision, and repeatability.

How to Improve Chromatography (HPLC) Skills

1. Dial in the mobile phase: Fine-tune solvent strength, pH, and modifiers. Small tweaks, big separation changes.

2. Protect the column: Guard columns, filtered samples, and proper storage extend life and preserve efficiency.

3. Prep like a pro: Filter, degas, and, when needed, use SPE or dilution to remove matrix junk and stabilize analytes.

4. Use smart gradients: For complex matrices, optimize gradient shape and time to sharpen peaks without bloating run times.

5. Stabilize temperature: Column ovens tame retention drift and polish peak shape.

6. System suitability first: Plate count, tailing, resolution. Track them. Act before they slide.

7. Maintain relentlessly: Replace seals, frits, and lamps on schedule. Chase leaks. Keep solvents fresh.

8. Document methods: Robust SOPs and change control keep methods transferable and audit-ready.

Consistent discipline yields clean baselines, tight RSDs, and fewer reruns.

How to Display Chromatography (HPLC) Skills on Your Resume

2. Spectroscopy (FTIR)

FTIR probes how molecules absorb infrared light, producing a spectral fingerprint that reveals functional groups and, often, composition. Fast, non-destructive, and remarkably telling.

Why It's Important

It’s a go-to for identity tests, contamination checks, polymer analysis, and monitoring reactions. When you need answers quickly with minimal prep, FTIR delivers.

How to Improve Spectroscopy (FTIR) Skills

1. Pick the right sampling mode: ATR for quick surfaces and most solids/liquids, transmission for films or KBr pellets, diffuse reflectance for powders.

2. Treat background as sacred: Fresh, frequent backgrounds reduce water/CO2 artifacts and drift.

3. Optimize resolution/scan count: Balance detail and time. More scans boost S/N; higher resolution separates crowded bands.

4. Keep optics clean: Crystals, windows, and accessories need gentle but regular attention.

5. Calibrate and verify: Use polystyrene or certified standards to confirm wavenumber accuracy.

6. Leverage libraries and software: Library search, baseline correction, and peak fitting turn raw spectra into decisions.

Good prep and vigilant instrument hygiene produce spectra you can stand behind.

How to Display Spectroscopy (FTIR) Skills on Your Resume

3. Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)

GC-MS pairs chromatographic separation with mass-based identification. The GC isolates components; the MS fingerprints them by their mass spectra. Powerful for trace-level analysis, impurity profiling, and unknown identification.

Why It's Important

From residual solvents to environmental volatiles to flavor compounds, GC-MS resolves complex questions with specificity and sensitivity that drive safety, quality, and compliance.

How to Improve Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Skills

1. Master sample prep: Use QuEChERS, SPME, or liquid–liquid extraction as the matrix demands. Clean extracts mean cleaner spectra.

2. Tune and verify: Perform regular autotune, check mass accuracy and sensitivity with standards, and run blanks/QCs to catch carryover.

3. Optimize GC conditions: Column choice, inlet liner, split/splitless settings, and temperature ramps should match volatility and matrix load.

4. Safeguard the inlet: Replace septa and liners routinely. Dirty inlets wreck chromatograms.

5. Use internal standards: Stable isotopes or structural analogs stabilize quantitation across injections.

6. Exploit libraries wisely: Match against curated libraries (e.g., NIST), but confirm with retention indices and qualifiers.

7. Document data integrity: Secure audit trails and versioned methods to satisfy GLP and 21 CFR Part 11 environments.

Well-tuned instruments and thoughtful methods yield crisp separations and unambiguous IDs.

How to Display Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Skills on Your Resume

4. Titration (Karl Fischer)

Karl Fischer titration quantifies water with exquisite sensitivity, using iodine-based chemistry in volumetric or coulometric modes. Essential when moisture content drives stability, performance, or regulatory acceptance.

Why It's Important

Accurate water values protect shelf life, potency, and process control—from pharmaceuticals to oils to polymers.

How to Improve Titration (Karl Fischer) Skills

1. Choose the right mode: Coulometric for low ppm water; volumetric for higher levels.

2. Control ambient moisture: Use sealed vessels, desiccated reagent handling, and monitor drift constantly.

3. Standardize regularly: Verify reagent titer with certified standards (e.g., sodium tartrate dihydrate) and track titer trends.

4. Use ovens for tough matrices: KF oven methods release water from solids without side reactions.

5. Maintain electrodes: Clean, hydrate (when applicable), and replace per schedule to prevent noisy endpoints.

6. Blank everything: Solvent blanks, septa blanks, and syringe checks eliminate hidden bias.

Stable drift, sharp endpoints, and consistent recoveries signal a tight KF setup.

How to Display Titration (Karl Fischer) Skills on Your Resume

5. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

PCR amplifies specific DNA segments through thermal cycling—denaturation, annealing, extension—generating millions of copies from scant template. Foundational for genotyping, detection, and cloning workflows.

Why It's Important

It transforms trace genetic material into analyzable signal. Diagnostics, research, forensics—PCR is the amplifier behind the answer.

How to Improve Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Skills

1. Design sharper primers: Balanced GC, matched Tm, and minimal secondary structure. Use validated primer design tools and screens.

2. Guard template quality: Clean extractions, accurate quantitation, and integrity checks prevent erratic amplification.

3. Tune Mg2+ and additives: Adjust MgCl2; consider DMSO or betaine for GC-rich regions.

4. Optimize annealing: Gradient tests quickly pinpoint the sweet spot for specificity and yield.

5. Limit cycle number: Too many cycles invite artifacts; 25–35 is the usual lane.

6. Go hot-start: Enzymes that activate at high temperature curb non-specific bands.

7. Mind the machines: Calibrated thermocyclers and verified ramp rates keep runs consistent.

8. Verify products: Gel or capillary analysis confirms size and cleanliness before downstream use.

Specific amplification with clean bands and repeatable Ct values signals a healthy PCR workflow.

How to Display Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Skills on Your Resume

6. Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)

SDS-PAGE separates denatured proteins by size in a polyacrylamide gel under an electric field. Uniform charge-to-mass ratio, size-dependent mobility, clear bands.

Why It's Important

Purity checks, molecular weight estimation, expression verification—SDS-PAGE is the protein workhorse in QC and research labs.

How to Improve Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) Skills

1. Prep clean samples: Reduce and denature with fresh buffer, spin out debris, and load consistent amounts.

2. Pick the right gel: Lower % gels for big proteins, higher % for small. Gradient gels when the range gets wide.

3. Control the run: Fresh running buffer, constant voltage, and temperature management reduce smiling and distortion.

4. Use proper markers: Pre-stained ladders help track progress and confirm sizes at a glance.

5. Stain smart: Coomassie for routine work, silver or fluorescent dyes for low-abundance targets.

6. Standardize post-run steps: Consistent destaining, imaging settings, and documentation make comparisons fair.

Sharp, well-resolved bands and reproducible migration patterns are your north star.

How to Display Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) Skills on Your Resume

7. Microscopy (SEM)

Scanning Electron Microscopy scans a focused electron beam across a surface to generate high-resolution images with striking depth of field and topographic contrast. Pair with EDS for elemental analysis on the spot.

Why It's Important

It reveals morphology, defects, coatings, and microstructures at scales light microscopes can’t touch, feeding materials research, failure analysis, and process troubleshooting.

How to Improve Microscopy (SEM) Skills

1. Prep meticulously: Clean, dry, and firmly mount samples. Apply conductive coatings (Au/Pd, C) for nonconductors to curb charging.

2. Tune beam conditions: Match accelerating voltage, spot size, and working distance to the sample—lower kV for surface detail, higher for penetration.

3. Manage artifacts: Watch for charging, drift, and contamination; adjust scan speed, beam current, or vacuum time accordingly.

4. Standardize EDS work: Calibrate, use appropriate dwell times, and confirm with standards when quant matters.

5. Analyze with purpose: Use robust image analysis tools (thresholding, particle sizing) and record metadata for reproducibility.

Crisp contrast, minimal charging, and reproducible magnifications separate snapshots from science.

How to Display Microscopy (SEM) Skills on Your Resume

8. Calorimetry (DSC)

Differential Scanning Calorimetry measures heat flow into or out of a sample as temperature changes, mapping transitions like melting, glass transitions, curing, and decomposition. A fingerprint of thermal behavior.

Why It's Important

DSC informs formulation, stability, and processing windows. It helps predict shelf life, set specifications, and diagnose failures.

How to Improve Calorimetry (DSC) Skills

1. Standardize sample handling: Consistent mass, geometry, and pan sealing (hermetic when needed) cut variability.

2. Calibrate across the range: Temperature and enthalpy calibration with certified standards keeps results trustworthy.

3. Use baselines wisely: Run empty-pan baselines and apply corrections to sharpen subtle transitions.

4. Control atmosphere: Inert purges (N2, Ar) for oxidation-prone samples; oxidative runs when that’s the study.

5. Optimize rates: Heating/cooling rates influence resolution versus time. Slow for precision; faster for throughput.

6. Clean regularly: Keep cells and sensors free from residues to avoid ghost peaks and drift.

Clear, repeatable transitions and tight onset temperatures indicate a well-tuned DSC method.

How to Display Calorimetry (DSC) Skills on Your Resume

9. Rheometry

Rheometry quantifies how materials flow and deform—viscosity, elasticity, yield behavior—under controlled stress or strain. Critical for inks, gels, slurries, creams, and molten polymers.

Why It's Important

It links processing to performance. Pumpability, spreadability, stability, mouthfeel—rheology translates these into numbers you can control.

How to Improve Rheometry Skills

1. Pick the right geometry: Cone-plate, parallel plate, or concentric cylinder, chosen for viscosity range and particle content.

2. Control temperature fiercely: Small drifts change results. Calibrate and verify.

3. Master sample loading: Avoid air bubbles, trim excess, set gaps consistently, and let samples equilibrate.

4. Run appropriate tests: Flow curves, oscillatory sweeps, creep recovery—design to answer the real question.

5. Validate linear viscoelastic region: Amplitude sweeps prevent data from straying into non-linear chaos.

6. Analyze thoughtfully: Use model fits (Herschel–Bulkley, Carreau) only when they actually describe the material.

Repeatable curves and sensible fits beat pretty graphs every time.

How to Display Rheometry Skills on Your Resume

10. NMR Spectroscopy

NMR observes nuclei in a magnetic field to reveal molecular structure, dynamics, and environment. Chemical shifts, coupling, relaxation—rich information, non-destructive, and deeply structural.

Why It's Important

It identifies unknowns, verifies synthetic targets, assesses purity, and supports process development. When structure matters, NMR speaks clearly.

How to Improve NMR Spectroscopy Skills

1. Prepare pristine samples: Deuterated solvents, appropriate concentration, and clean tubes reduce artifacts and widen dynamic range.

2. Shim and lock well: Good field homogeneity means sharper lines and better integration.

3. Choose the right experiments: 1D for quick answers; 2D (COSY, HSQC, HMBC, NOESY) for connectivity and spatial clues; qNMR for potency.

4. Optimize parameters: Relaxation delays, pulse widths, and number of scans tuned for signal-to-noise without wasting time.

5. Reference correctly: Internal standards or residual solvent peaks keep shifts honest.

6. Process with intent: Zero-filling, window functions, phase/baseline correction—do them consistently and document choices.

Clean spectra with confident assignments and reproducible integrations define solid NMR practice.

How to Display NMR Spectroscopy Skills on Your Resume

11. ELISA

ELISA detects and quantifies specific proteins, antibodies, or hormones using immobilized capture molecules and enzyme-generated signals. Sensitive, selective, and scalable.

Why It's Important

From biomarkers to process impurities, ELISA turns biological recognition into measurable output that supports QC and research decisions.

How to Improve ELISA Skills

1. Lock down coating and blocking: Optimize buffers and blockers to maximize signal while choking off background.

2. Titrate antibodies: Determine the sweet spot for primary and secondary to avoid hook effects and wasted reagents.

3. Wash with consistency: Adequate volumes, dwell time, and well-to-well uniformity slash noise.

4. Choose smart detection: Match substrates and read times to the enzyme; set plate reader gain carefully.

5. Build a robust curve: Replicates, appropriate range, and reliable curve fit (4PL/5PL) enable trustworthy quantitation.

6. Control the plate environment: Mind edge effects and incubation temperatures; cover plates to reduce evaporation.

7. Audit pipettes and tips: Calibration and technique matter more than most admit.

Low CVs, clean blanks, and linear standard curves tell you the assay is humming.

How to Display ELISA Skills on Your Resume

12. Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics stitches computing to biology—wrangling sequences, structures, and assay data into insight. In chemistry-adjacent labs, it connects analytical outputs with biological meaning.

Why It's Important

It accelerates discovery and QC by automating analysis, standardizing pipelines, and making multidimensional data actually usable.

How to Improve Bioinformatics Skills

1. Learn practical coding: Python and R for data handling, plotting, and basic statistics. Biopython, pandas, tidyverse—workhorses worth knowing.

2. Use the right tools: Familiarity with alignment, annotation, and QC software speeds up routine analyses and reduces errors.

3. Think reproducibility: Version control, documented environments, and scripted workflows beat manual clicks every time.

4. Visualize clearly: Translate data into plots and dashboards that drive decisions, not confusion.

5. Mind data hygiene: Metadata standards, clean formats, and secure storage keep projects usable and audit-ready.

6. Keep learning: Short courses, seminars, and community forums help you track fast-moving tools and methods.

Reproducible pipelines and transparent reporting turn raw data into trustworthy narratives.

How to Display Bioinformatics Skills on Your Resume